Parent Update - 13 October 2017

As the flagship school for Nord Anglia Education, we hosted visits this week by Principals who want to join the company and see what an NAE school is like. It is always a great opportunity to showcase the teaching and learning. I am always proud of the pupils and staff for showing what makes our school special.

I was certainly proud to see the wonderful Year 5 performance of Roald Dahl’s “Revolting Rhymes”. The speaking of the lines and the singing was excellent and I especially enjoyed the enthusiasm and teamwork on show.

Pride, too, was the emotion felt when I heard the great success of our Year 4 Football teams who defeated 12 other schools at a tournament at Happy Valley to win both trophies available.

Our first Secondary Sports Day was a winner too! The weather was ideal, the competition great, the House spirit lively and the teamwork superb.

Congratulations to all the staff and pupils involved for all these successes, and for the great support the pupils gave each other.

Wherever you go, have a fabulous holiday!

Brian Cooklin.

Principal.

GENERAL NOTICES

UPCOMING EVENTS

16-20 October

Half-Term, School Closed

27 October

Spooktakular Halloween Party 5-8pm Lam Tin Campus

NAIS PTA Halloween Spooktakular 3!!!

Friday, 27 October 2017, 5 pm to 8 pm (NAIS, Lam Tin Campus)

Please come to the NAIS PTA Halloween Spooktakluar 3!!!

Bouncy castles, games, activities, treats and more ...

The HK$150 ticket price includes ALL activities, food and soft drinks. You must purchase an Admission ticket for entry. Upgrade to an “Adult Beverage” ticket for an additional HK$88 and enjoy free-flowing beer and wine.

This event is for all our NAIS families and caters for children of all ages, regardless of campus. There will be a special EYFS craft room for our younger children. All students in Year 5 and below must be accompanied by an adult. It's time to get your spook on!

This week is a website that has a wide variety of information about composers, games and listening activities available. There is even a section for parents! www.classicsforkids.com

BOWLING FOR HISTORY

On Wednesday, Secondary students joined in a new lunchtime ECA called the History Bowl Club. In this club students will be working on fun and unusual ways of developing their knowledge and understanding of world history. To begin with, this involved students competing in electronic quiz on the history of East Asia and the Second World War, singing along in a ‘karaoke style’ to a historical song and using the Lego boards in the Maker Space to create medieval castle designs. This is all in preparation for our entry to the International History Bowl and Bee – an international interschool event which will be taking place in Hong Kong in the New Year. We’re really hoping to make it through to Asia wide event held in Thailand and then the global Olympiad event in Germany. You can learn more about the International Historical Olympiad by watching this video.

Request: Parents, if you have any areas of historical interest or expertise that you would like to share with the club or if you are aware of any fun and unusual materials or activities for learning about world history – especially topics outside of Britain and the USA – please let us know at david.robinson@nais.hk . For example, next week we will be attempting to memorise all the English Kings and Queens by using this fantastic Horrible Histories song.

SPORTING SUCCESS

Success of our U9s football team this week. Two of our teams played in a tournament at Happy Valley last week with both teams coming out victorious in their respective groups. Our Premiership team won their tournament without conceding a goal and the Championship team won theirs only conceding one goal throughout.

LAM TIN UPDATES (scroll down for Tai Tam and Sai Kung campus updates)

UPCOMING EVENTS

16-20 October

Half-Term, School Closed

26-27 October

Year 7 Spanish Music Workshops

26-30 October

Visit from Erin Wight, Juilliard Curriculum Specialist

27 October

Spooktacular Halloween Party

Class Assembly 3C Ryan Speed

1-2 November

School Photographs – remember to bring your own comb or brush!

2 November

Year 6 Evolution and DNA Day

Class Assembly 4E Amy Beedham

Save the Date

Primary Sports Day on Friday, 1 December

NAKED LUNCH IS BACK … every Friday

Last year’s Naked Lunch was a huge success but one day is not enough….so, starting after half term, every Friday is going to be a ‘Naked Lunch Friday’ as we really want to start making our school healthy, which includes healthy minds, bodies and environment.

A Naked Lunch is when our pupils bring lunches that have minimal (or no) packaging, are healthy, and come in reusable containers. The aim is to throw away/create as little as possible, be it food waste or packaging. One thing we noticed last year was that naked lunches tended to be healthier than the usual lunches so as well as helping the environment, becoming waste free will also help to make our bodies heathier.

YEAR 5 PRODUCTION

What an absolutely amazing show the Year 5 children performed to the school and parents yesterday. I was absolutely blown away with just how brilliant all of the children were. Incredible acting, fantastic singing & everyone looked like they were having an absolute ball.

We have had so many positive comments from teachers and students across the school. Years 1 and 2 were in hysterics throughout the show - a testament to how well the Year 5 students performed. Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend the show yesterday and a special thank you to all of the staff that helped make this show a reality - without them, this would not have been possible.

YEAR 2 TALK FOR WRITE RECITAL

Our Year 2 pupils really impressed their parents yesterday when they performed the English Recital of Frost Dragon Report. Talk for Write is an approach to teaching English that focusses on developing actions to match key words in the text. The language patterns become embedded in a child's working memory which support their writing. Thank you parents for your support, the children thoroughly enjoyed sharing their hard work with you.

JUILLIARD VISIT

We look forward to welcoming back Ms. Erin Wight, our Music Specialist from the Juilliard School after half term. Erin will visit all three of our campuses with her viola, and work with our music teachers as their thought partner for developing teaching and learning in the classroom.

ASSEMBLY TIME

Primary Assembly – Class 2B, Carl Davidson

2B did a sterling job in their assembly today. They showcased to all of us what they have learnt in the Talk for Write approach, learning English by using actions to match keywords in the text. Our children also shared us what they learnt about dragon by simulating a dragon egg has been delivered to our school. Well done everyone!

We have really enjoyed sharing your children’s progress with you all this week in our Parent Consultation meetings. I am sure you enjoyed looking at the children’s work and how they have developed even in the first few weeks since we opened.

The Nursery this week has been turned into an Ice Cream parlour with a number of activities being based around the children’s ideas. They have also enjoyed using the cookery facilities to make rice krispies. We had our first House Assembly with Mrs Malone introducing and explaining the House system to the children – every child is in either Windsor (red) Sandringham (yellow) Balmoral (blue) or Caernarfon (green). House points are awarded for a variety of things both academic and social. The children receive a counter every time they earn a House Point and these are all collected in our tubes in the Reception area. Please do ask your child about their House and House Points.

Our Regional Managing Director of Nord Anglia Education visited us this week and saw all three sites in action. He was very impressed by how established we felt and how the ethos and vision has been created across the whole school even though we are in different locations.

I hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable half term.

Mrs Sarah Harley

NOTICES

16 – 20 October

Half-Term School Closed

27 October Spooktacular Halloween Party5-8pm at Lam Tin

Join us for a fun and festive time. This event is for all our NAIS families and caters for children of all ages, regardless of campus. There will be a special EYFS craft room for our younger children. Children much be accompanied by an adult.

Thank you to all the parents who have expressed an interest on volunteering for International Day, if there are any more parents who would like to volunteer please email Katie.Malone@nais.hk

Children on this day will be able to come to school wearing something celebrating their culture and country. This could include national dress, colours from the countries flag or even a football top.

BLOGS

Please continue to check the blogs for weekly information about what your child has been learning in school.

SPORTS DAY

Year 1 children will join in the whole of Primary Sports Day on Friday, 1 December – EYFS will have a separate sports day with Sai Kung EYFS in the Spring. More information will be given about both events nearer the time.

CHRISTMAS SHOW

Save the date for our Tai Tam show on Tuesday, 12 December at 10am– all the children will take to the stage and parents will be invited.

NO NUTS
We are a ‘nut free school’ as we have a number of children with severe nut allergies. This includes peanuts and tree nuts. Please remember this when packing your child’s snack and lunch. We cannot allow nut/nut products of any kind in the building. For a snack we suggest a small piece of fruit or bread.

SPARE CLOTHES

We do have a small supply of spare clothes for emergencies, can we remind everybody to add a spare set of clothes to your child’s bag every day, just in case!

This week we welcomed parents into school for our parent consultations as well as to help us celebrate our learning about Diwali. The week started with an assembly where we looked at images of celebrations and talked about our own experiences with Mid-Autumn festival last week. Thank you to the parents who then joined us today to read stories about Diwali and gave children clay lanterns to paint and take home. All the children enjoyed themselves enormously.

Our Reception children have been outside on the balcony and the teachers have been working hard to design an effective learning environment out there. There has been a lot of discussion and exploration around transportation of water. It’s been a pleasure to see the children problem solve in order to achieve their goals.

Today, Year 1 went out on a “Senses Walk” around the local area. Using the outdoors to learn is a vital part of school life and really helps to embed concepts in a context they can relate to. They all particularly enjoyed the sights and sounds of the exciting sea-life on display in our local restaurants.

It’s hard to believe that we have been open for a half-term already. After the holidays we will be joined by two new TLAs as well as some new pupils. We can’t wait to welcome them into our school.

To all our families, we wish you a safe and restful break. To our families who will celebrate Diwali, Happy Diwali.

Enjoy your half-term.

Naima Charlier.

Head of School.

NOTICES

16 – 20 October

Half-Term School Closed

27 October

Spooktacular Halloween Party 5-8pm at Lam Tin

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

27 October Spooktacular Halloween Party5-8pm at Lam Tin

Join us for a fun and festive time. This event is for all our NAIS families and caters for children of all ages, regardless of campus. There will be a special EYFS craft room for our younger children. Children much be accompanied by an adult.

You can find detailed information about the curriculum for the coming term on our Firefly pages. Please do take a look and ask your teacher if you have any questions.

BLOGS

Please continue to check the blogs for weekly information about what your child has been learning in school.

LIBRARY BOOKS

Children will bring home a weekly library book starting this week. Please share these books with your child and help them to remember to bring it back on their library day. Your class teacher will let you know which day this is.

EYFS parents are invited in to school for a Parent Consultation. This Parent Consultation is a chance for you to talk with your child’s class teacher about your child’s learning and development throughout this half term. Your teacher will talk to you about how your child has settled, what they are enjoying at school and any next steps that they will be taking throughout the coming weeks. This time is also a chance for you to ask any questions that you may have and celebrate all of the wonderful learning that has happened in the first few weeks of school.

There is a digital sign up system on Firefly – please click here to access this and book your appointment time.

INSET DAY – 10th November

School is closed to all pupils for staff training.

INTERNATIONAL DAY – 15 November

International Day will be celebrated across all three sites at Nord Anglia and we will be looking for parent volunteers who would be willing to come in and help our children learn about different cultures here in Sai Kung.

If you would be interested in coming in and reading a story from your culture, sharing some food or even running a small cooking class we would be delighted to hear from you.

Please email SaiKungReception@nais.hk to let us know and we will liaise with the schools PTA to make it a thoroughly enjoyable learning experience for all.

PARENT CONSULTATION – Year 1

These will be on Tuesday, 28 November and you will have an opportunity to sign up for a time to discuss your child’s learning, development, progress and next steps with the teacher. This time will also be a chance to talk about and celebrate your child’s achievements in their first few months of school. However, if you would like to talk to your child’s class teacher before then, regarding how your child has settled into school, then please do email them to arrange a suitable time for you.

SPORTS DAY – 1 December

Year 1 children will join in the whole of Primary Sports Day on December 1. EYFS will have a separate sports day with Tai Tam EYFS in the Spring. More information will be given about both events nearer the time.

CHRISTMAS SHOW – 13 December

Save the date for our Sai Kung show – all the children will take to the stage and parents will be invited. More details will follow.

Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong is a candidate school* for the Diploma Programme. This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. IB World Schools share a common philosophy- a commitment to high-quality, challenging, international education- that we believe is important for our students.

* Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme (DP), or the Career-related Programme (CP).For further information about the IB and its programmes visit http://www.ibo.org.

Images used on this site show students from other Nord Anglia Education schools.